Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi all,

i am planning to buy a rather old Pajero for about 60000 to 70000 Rand. Most of the vehicles i have looked at have more than 200000 kms / some of them have even nearly 300000. I have been told, that those engines run 350000 to 400000 without problems. Is this true? Or should i be prepared to invest in the engine if i buy such an old car?

Are there any signs i can look for that tell me that an engine is or is not fine?

If i get told that the engine was rebuild - how reliable is this? Is a rebuild or overhauled engine - given that it was done properly - is just as new?

Thanks a lot for any advice

regards
Christian

The 6g range of mitsu engines are known to be almost bullet proof. There are not many engines around with such a well engineered bottom end as the mitsu petrol motors getting 300k from a motor is quite in order.

High km on a vehicle counts in your favour as the buyer as it tends to drop the price but there are a few points you should keep in mind. To keep the engine in top form I would suggest replacing the cam belt as soon as you can, it is not a free running motor and failure can be expensive, at the same time I would consider replacing the water pump as the cam belt drives this unit and it can be difficult to get to later.

Should worst come to worst and the engine blows up or some disaster hits the petrol 6g74 is not the most expensive engine to replace and a jap runner with low km can be bought for less than R 20k and this is usually cheaper to do than to rebuild the original engine. I would be sceptical of a rebuild as you do not know how it has been done, many mechanics out there are expert in this task but unfortunately there are as many if not more cowboys around.
Look out for white smoke from the exhaust, this could be a sign of oil burning while black smoke usually indicates an over rich mixture (fueling) any strange rumbles or knocking sounds must be avoided. The fan belt tensioner pulleys can have a rumble and this shows that they are on their way out but not too difficult to rectify.

On the drive train side there are no common failures and if the changing is smooth with the 4wd engaging and disengaging smoothly you should not have problems. Brake components (disks and pads) are not overly expensive and are quite easy to replace.

You should be able to get the vehicle you want in your price range and have many kilos faithful service.

Good luck

Henk

Thank you very much for the advice! That really helps!

I just found a Pajero 1996 with V8 Engine being sold for about 52K with only 165000. But i guess that this engine will use to much of petrol so i did not really consider looking at it. Or should i consider this an option?

regards
Christian

This would be a brilliant vehicle...............for Tarlton Taking this hybrid out on any kind of route away from civilisation is not something I would like to do, fuel cost will also be a major factor and you might end up like a cruiser that only gets about 3 km / l . Modifications like this always come with a reliability cost, not something I would want for an expedition vehicle, playing in the sandpits might be different.

chriszz wrote: I just found a Pajero 1996 with V8 Engine being sold for about 52K with only 165000.

I agree with Henk - walk away. There will be very little real performance gain in day to day driving and the rest of the drive train will certainly bow out under the added torque.

If you can afford to wait (which I suspect you can) rather wait for the right car to come along ... it will. A month or two may feel like forever if you are keen to get on (and off) the road, but is nothing compared to buying a lemon .... gives new meaning to the word eternity.

Maybe have a look at junkmail and autotrader as well ... e.g. this one from junkmail

Mitsubishi 1996 Pajero 3L. Good condition. EW/PS/AC/CD/TB leather seats. Nearest cash offer gets this absolute bargain. 265000 kms. Accident free. R49000.00 Phone 0837547761.

Yeah I know its a 3l and has a fair whack of kilos, but if you could get it for R40k or so there's a lot of cash left for (unlikely) unplanned repairs.

Or if you can stretch your budget

chriszz wrote:Thank you very much for the advice! That really helps!

I just found a Pajero 1996 with V8 Engine being sold for about 52K with only 165000. But i guess that this engine will use to much of petrol so i did not really consider looking at it. Or should i consider this an option?

regards
Christian

1996 with only 165000 km sounds suspicious. Are those the km on the "new" V8 engine? How many km's are on the car (thus including old engine)? If less than 300000, why was the engine taken out at 140000- km?

See, all sounds suspect to me. Then there is the matter of paying for 2-3 extra litres of petrol per 100 km only to hear the magnificent sound of a v8?

You have good advice to walk away - unless you can get the car at R35000 or less...

Anton